The Los Angeles Lakers were back in action Friday night to take on the San Antonio Spurs. Coming into the game, the Lakers looked to end a losing streak which grew to six after losing Wednesday night to the New Orleans Pelicans.
Friday’s matchup marked the third and final time the two teams met for the season. In their last game, the Lakers shocked the defending champions and came away with an overtime win.
Byron Scott made a lineup change for the game by making Robert Sacre and rookie Jordan Clarkson starters to join Wayne Ellington, Ryan Kelly, and Jordan Hill.
The Lakers came into the game with a record of 12-31 while the Spurs held a 27-17 mark.
First Quarter
The Lakers had trouble during the opening minutes as their first two shot attempts failed to hit the rim and quickly found themselves down 9-0 three minutes into the game. Clarkson scored the first Laker points with an elbow jumper and finished a driving layup the next time down the court. Sacre hit a jumper to bring the score to 13-6. After Clarkson made another layup, fouls and turnovers allowed the Spurs to bring their lead to 15. The offense was stalled until Nick Young was able to draw a foul on Corey Joseph and converted on the two free throws. Young closed out the quarter by scoring the next five points for the Lakers after hitting a jumper and a three pointer. The quarter ended with the Lakers trailing 31-15.
Second Quarter
With attacking the rim with a layup, Carlos Boozer got the first Laker basket of the quarter after the team missed their first two field goals. After Davis beat the shot clock with a layup of his own and Johnson hit a free throw to bring the Laker total to 20, the Lakers allowed Tony Parker to get into the paint and find Tim Duncan for an easy dunk to bring the deficit to 18. Young hit a pair of free throws, but the Spurs were able to bring their lead to 20 when Parker found Duncan again in the paint. The Lakers fouled the Spurs on three straight possessions as the resulting free throws brought the score to 47-24. Sacre, Ellington, and Clarkson baskets gave the Lakers a quick 6-0 run. Clarkson continued his strong play by finding Boozer to finish a fastbreak, but the Lakers still found themselves down large to enter the break, 56-38.
Third Quarter
A jumper by Kelly starting things off for the Lakers. Kelly came back the next possession with a layup. The Lakers were able to cut the Spurs lead to 13 until Duncan free throws brought the score to 60-45. Parker hit a corner three while Kawhi Leonard drew a foul on Sacre to put the Spurs up 17. Kelly nearly had himself a four-point play but missed the shot as well as his second free throw. Leonard responded on the other end with a three of his own. After a dead ball and lineup changes by both teams, Clarkson took the ball coast to coast to draw a foul while hitting a layup and converted the three point play. The Lakers made a couple of good defensive stops and came within 12. As the quarter came to an end, the Lakers still found themselves by 15 by a score of 76-15.
Fourth Quarter
Ronnie Price found Carlos Boozer who got things going for the Lakers. A Johnson three from straight away got the Lakers within 10, but the Lakers allowed the Spurs to score seven points in a minutes to go down 83-66. After the run, the Lakers couldn’t get back into the game as the Spurs continued to remain in control. Young hit his third three of the night to bring the score to 86-71. Davis got a putback dunk to keep as the Lakers remained down by 15. The teams traded misses until Danny Green hit a jumper. Ellington hit a three while Hill finished a dunk to get the Lakers to 78. Despite some flashes from Clarkson and coming close to making a run a couple times, the Lakers ultimately fell by a score of 99-85.
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